Be very afraid : the cultural response to terror, pandemics, environmental devastation, nuclear annihilation, and other threats

Examines the human response to existential threats--once a matter for theology, but now looming before us in multiple forms. Nuclear weapons, pandemics, global warming: each threatens to destroy the planet, or at least to annihilate our species. Freud, Wuthnow notes, famously taught that the standard psychological response to an overwhelming danger is denial. In fact, Wuthnow argues, the opposite is true: we seek ways of positively meeting the threat, of doing something--anything--even if it's wasteful and time-consuming. It would be one thing if our responses were merely pointless, Wuthnow observes, but they can actually be harmful.--From publisher description.Meer lezen...

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Disputes the view that fear of peril results in denial and argues that a more common response is to do things to overcome our sense of vulnerability even if these things are ineffective.Meer lezen...

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an extraordinarily ambitious book... Wuthnow illuminates the psychology and cognitive frameworks we construct to make sense of the peril we face. Shaun Casey, Theology an important and very useful accomplishment. It stands out as a comprehensive, widely accessible, and informed review of the social response to diverse catastrophic dangers. It is a study that is long overdue. We can only hope that this book does not become even more timely. Philip Smith, Japanese Journal of Political ScienceMeer lezen...

"Examines the human response to existential threats--once a matter for theology, but now looming before us in multiple forms. Nuclear weapons, pandemics, global warming: each threatens to destroy the planet, or at least to annihilate our species. Freud, Wuthnow notes, famously taught that the standard psychological response to an overwhelming danger is denial. In fact, Wuthnow argues, the opposite is true: we seek ways of positively meeting the threat, of doing something--anything--even if it's wasteful and time-consuming. It would be one thing if our responses were merely pointless, Wuthnow observes, but they can actually be harmful.--From publisher description."@en